Saxophone cord



April 10, 1928. 1,665,745-

A. S. LANG v SAXQPH'ONE CORD Filed Dec.1'7.' 192s A\bion SLong atented Apr. 10, 1928.

UNITED STATES ALBIOI T SLAYTON LANG, F JAMAICA PLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAXOPHONE CORD.

\ I Application filed December 17, 1926. Serial No. 155,432.

This invention relates to saxophone cords ;uch as are used by saxophone players to :upport the weight of the saxophone while it s being played and has for its principal )bject to provide a. novel supporting device which can be readily adjusted to dilierent .engths and will be firmly held in any adiusted position.

In carrying out my invention I employ a slide or adjustment, member to which a doubled cord is secured, the two branches or leads of the cord extending from the slide or adjusting member through the eye of the saxophone supporting hook and then being threaded throu h apertures in the slide an formed into a Foop which encircles the neck of the layer.

The ength of the cord may be readily adjusted by moving the slide up or down and when adjusted and in use the weight of the saxophone will cause the cord to bind on the adjusting member and thus become locked so that it will not slip and thus upset the proper adjustment.

In order to give an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings some selected embodiments thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Fi 1 is aview of a saxophone player wearing my improved supporting cord;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the supporting cord;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspectlve view showing the a justing member and illustrating one way of threading the cord therethrough;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing ferent form of adjusting member;

Fig. 5 is a front view of Fi Fig. 6 is a section on the a dif me 6-6, F g.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section through Fig. 8;

i 8 is a erspective view showing still a di erent em diment of'the invention; a In Fig. 1 of the drawings 1 indicates a saxophone player and 2 a saxophone which he is illustrated as playing. 3 indicates generally the supporting cord or member which encircles the neck of the player and is provided at its lower end with a hook 4 adapted to hook into an eye. 5 on the saxo- 5 phone all as usual in devices of this type. .The present invention relates to a novel .16 as usual in saxophone supports and means for adjusting the length of the cord and holding it in its adjusted position.

The adjustment of the cord is effected b means of a cord-adjusting member 6 whic is provided with four apertures 7, 8, 9 and 10 through which the cord?) is threaded. The cord 3 is formed with the loop portion 11 which extends about the neck of the player and the portion 12 at one side of the loop is threaded throu h two of the apertures in the adjusting p ate 6 while the portion 13 of the cord at the other side of the loop is threadedthrough the other two apertures. The two sides of the cord are also passed through the loop 14 of the hook 4 and are carried upwardly as shown at 15 and are fastened to thelower end of the slide 6.

The portion of the loop 11 which fits around the neck may be formed of a strip t e ends of the cord 3 are fastened to the end of the strap 6 in any suitable way as shown at 17. The manner of threading the portions 12 and 13 of the cord through the apertures in the adjusting varied without changing the invention.

These apertures are preferably arranged to present an up er pair and a lower pair and each side or ead 12 and 13 of the cord may be threaded through an aperture of the upper pair and another a erture of the lower pair. With this three ing of the cord the entire cord presents a single loop 11 above the adjusting member 6 and a double loop below the adjusting member. By sliding the member 6 up and down on the cord the total length of the cord may be adjusted, the sliding of the adjustin member 6 upwardly shortening the cor and moving it downwardly lengthening the cord.

member 6 may be In the construction shown the lead 12 of the cord passes through the u and the lower aperture 10 an the cord passes through the upper aperture 8 and the lower aperture 9, the two leads per aperture 7 "crossing as shown at 18.

The cord is, of course, bent more or less where it is threaded back and forth through the apertures and the friction of the adjusting member on the cord is sufiicient to prevent the cord from slipping when it is under any strain as when it is carrying the weight of the saxophone. Where the threading shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is employed there is an additional looking or clamping of the the lead 13 of cord by the binding of the portion 19 of the cord on the portion 20. When the cord is subjected to strain, as is the case when it is supporting the saxophone the strain will tighten the portion 19 of the cord and cause it to grip the portion 20 thus increasing the locking efiect of the adjusting member.

The two parts 15 of the cord may be fastened to the adjusting member 6 in any appropriate way. One convenient way is herein shown wherein the member 6 is provided with an aperture 21 through which a loop 22 both sides of the cord to the same extent.

. A further advantage resulting from havm giboth leads 15 of the cord attached to the s11 e or adjusting member 6 is that it will obviate the danger of one side or lead 12 of the cord being pulled through the slide more than -the other side or lead 13. When the cord is in use-as shown in Fig. 1 there is a tendency for the eater portion of the weight of the saxop one to be taken by the lead 12 of the cord and with a greater strain on one side of the cord than onthe other there would be a tendency for one side of the cord to be pulled through the slide to a greater extent than the other thus shifting the osition of the strap 16 so that one end of t e strap would be higher than the other. By having the two leads 15 of the cord firmly secured to the slide this dis lacement of the strap 16 will not occur. oreover, with the construction shown it will be noted that the side or lead 12 which is subjected to the greatest strain overlies the other lead at the point 18 and this added strain, therefore, senes to increase the gripping effect on thecor When the device is in use the adjusting member 6.will lie flat against the body of the player and in making an adjustment of the cord the player grasps the adjusting member 6 with one hand, grasps the hook 4 with the other and then moves the adjusting member up or down depending on whether he wishes to shorten or lengthen the cord. In grasping the adjusting member it is more convenient to place the thumb back of it and the first finger in front of it rather than to take it by the two edges and in order to permit the player to asp it most conveniently without danger 0 .ap plying a gripping pressure to the cord which will makeit difiicult to adjust I may, if desired, provide the adjusting member with a front projection 23 and a rear rejection 24 which extend sufiiciently beyon the cord so that when the operator places his thumb on one projection and his. finger on the other he may firmly hold the adjusting member without applying any gripping pressure to the cord.

Another construction is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 wherein I have'provided a shield or cover member 25 which covers the front of the adjusting member 6. This shield 25 may he slipped onto the adjusting member 6 from the upper edge, the sides of the shield being formed at 26"to fit the edges of the adjusting member asshown in Fig. 7. The.

shield member is separated from the front of the adjusting member at the bottom-to allow the portions 15 of the cord to be fastened to the adjusting member.

In order to adjust the adjusting member shown in Figs. place his thumb space between the two sides of the cord and place his finger on the cover member 25 and in this way he may firmly hold the adjusting member while adjusting it without applying any gripping pressure on the cord.

The cover member 25 also has an ornamental value in that it covers up the portion of the cords which are exposed at the front of the adjusting member. While I.have described the invention as a cord for supporting saxophones yet it will be obvious that a cord embodying the invention can be used equally well for supporting other musical instruments, such as banjos,

bassoons and the like, and hence the invention is in no ways limited to use in connection with saxophones.

I claim:

1. An adjusting member for a saxophone cord, said member having an upper pair of a ertures and a lower pair of apertures t rough which the two strands or leads of the supporting cord are threaded and also having projections extending from opposite faces to provide rests which the operator may hold between his finger and thumb when the adjusting member is to be adjusted, said rests preventing the finger and thumb from applying a gripping pressure on the strands.

2. An ad usting member for a saxophone cord, said member having an upper pair of apertures and a lower pair of apertures through which the supporting cord may be threaded with each strand or lead of the cord passing through an aperture of each pair, said member having an additional aperture to which a loop of the cord may be fixedly secured.

3. An adjusting member for a saxophone cord, said member having an up er pair of a ertures and a lower pair 0 apertures t rou h which the supporting cord may b threa ed with each strand or lead of th 7 and 8 the operator will back of the device in the may place his finger cord passing through an aperture each pair, said member having an .additional aperture to which a loop of the cord may be fixedly secured, and also having a finger rest i face thereof against extending from one which the finger'may be placed when the adjusting member is being adjusted, said finger rest preventing the finger from applying a gripping pressureon the cord.

4. An adjusting member for a saxophone cord, said member having upper and lower apertures through which the strands or leads of the supporting cord are threaded, said adjusting member having a portion constituting a finger rest against which a erson when. the ad usting member is adjusted, said rest preventing the finger from applying agripping" pressure on the strands.

5. An adjusting meinber for a saxophone cord, said member havin an "upper and a lower pair of apertures t roughwhich the two strands or leads of the supporting cord are threaded, and also having a finger rest extending from the front face thereof against which a person may place his finger when the adjusting member is to be adjusted said rest preventing the finger from applylng a gripping pressure on the strands.

Intestimony whereof, I have signed my name to this sggcification. I

AL ION SLAYTON LANG. 

